Before installing that jumpseat in your Westy, do some calculations.  The GL Camper with its built-in appliances and tanks has less payload than a passenger type Vanagon even though they share the same chassis and GVWR. In order to offset the extra weight of the appliances, VW limited the amount of seating available by design.

So do some weighing of your vehicle and see what happens when you add an additional seat, a passenger and their luggage to your vehicle. VW had to use generic numbers for their calculations since they have no control of who will actually be in the vehicle. A typical figure used to calculate payload is 200 lbs per passenger, not including the weight of the seat itself. Do you have that much additional payload capacity available when you are using your camper as a travel vehicle/camper?

How you choose to modify your Vanagon is up to you, but take the time to calculate the affects of your modifications. What works for one listmember/Vanagon owner might not work for your particular situation. Your payload is your family and friends, how much are they worth?

Good luck,

TJ Hannink
Goldibox - 1987 Vanagon Camper, Wolfsburg Edition
1981 Bluebird Wanderlodge, FC-33
Winter Park, Florida
http://home.earthlink.net/~tjhannink/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wolfsburg_campers
http://photos.yahoo.com/tjhannink [Vanagon] Album
FAVOR website:  http://home.earthlink.net/~clubvanagon

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